McCain Declares Mosul "Quiet" After Three Suicide Attacks:Speaking about Iraq at a townhall event on Thursday evening in Greensdale, Wisconsin, Sen. John McCain declared, "I can tell you that it is succeeding. I can look you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels. Basra, Mosul and now Sadr city are quiet and it's long and it's hard and it's tough and there will be setbacks..." McCain was wrong on two points. First, U.S. forces have not returned to pre-surge levels. Before the surge, there were 130,000 troops in Iraq; even if the scheduled troop reductions are carried out as planned, there will still be 140,000 troops in Iraq in August.
(platanoman)

(Newser)
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John McCain has been dabbling in truthiness this week, Michael Dobbs blogs in the Washington Post. McCain said US troops were “drawn down to pre-surge levels" in Iraq, and cities like Mosul were "quiet"—but in fact, troop levels remain higher than before the surge, and Mosul's quiet is often broken by car bombs and other fatal strikes.

McCain refused to admit his error today. "I said we had drawn down," he said. "We have drawn down three of the five brigades. We have drawn down the Marines. The rest will be home the end of July. That's just facts, the facts as I stated them." No, Dobbs writes, it's not what he stated. "When politicians make an error, why can't they just admit it?"